WSU notes: NCAA committee has plenty of time to evaluate Shockers when healthy

Creighton athletic director Bruce Rasmussen can watch a college basketball game in about 45 minutes when timeouts and other breaks are removed.

As a member of the 10-person NCAA basketball selection committee, Rasmussen needs that speed-watching capability for his binge-watching responsibilities. The committee’s ability to watch every game a team plays is potentially helpful to Wichita State, which quite likely will perform much differently for the remaining three months of the season, if and when injured players return.

Should the Shockers once again look like a top-10 team, committee members will know. They will be able to judge that team vs. the one that suffered injuries to three players and struggled early in the season. While future performance can’t erase losses or magically conjure up quality wins, it can state the case in a more favorable light.

“I can go back and watch 30 Wichita State games,” Rasmussen said. “What happens in a lot of the last couple weeks, especially selection week, is that we may discuss a team for a half hour. Then the committee has an opportunity to go back and look at film.”

The committee, of which former WSU athletic director Jim Schaus is a member, met in November and will meet again in January and February before the selection process in March in Indianapolis. In between, there are conference calls and updates from schools and conferences and lots of watching. The top 75 teams, Rasmussen said, are followed particularly closely. Every committee member is responsible to track seven or eight conferences, half in a primary way and half in a secondary way.

Rasmussen follows the Big 12, Big Ten, Mid-American, Patriot League, America East, Big South and Northeast. Duke athletic director Kevin White and North Carolina-Asheville athletic director Janet Cone take primary responsibility for the Missouri Valley Conference.

“The committee doesn’t spend anywhere near as much time looking at or talking about RPI as I thought before I got on the committee,” Rasmussen said. “The eye test is the biggest test for people. Watching games and watching the way a team plays, their toughness, the way they play together. People are very familiar with Wichita. You’re familiar with (Ron) Baker and (Fred) VanVleet and (Evan) Wessel and a lot of those kids.”

The NCAA basketball selection committee takes injuries into account when evaluating tournament at-large resumes. We hear that all the time.

Wichita State fans will hear that more than most after this season’s rash of injuries. How the first month of the season — played largely without point guard Fred VanVleet — is judged may matter significantly on Selection Sunday in March. While injuries — VanVleet, Landry Shamet, Anton Grady — are hurting the Shockers, they do have three months to influence the opinions of the selection committee.

“Injuries are talked about extensively and they’re talked about throughout the year whenever we get together,” Rasmussen,said. “Injuries aren’t something that are discussed during selection week in March.”

The committee can’t ignore the damage to this point, most notably opportunities missed for a important wins. But it will consider how the Shockers play the rest of the season and that should be the encouraging news for them.

“Everybody on the comittee is well-aware of Wichita’s strengths as a team when they’re at full health and the impact of injuries to people like Fred VanVleet,” Rasmussen said. “The committee recognizes how fragile basketball is and how an injury or several injuries can have a dramatic impact on a team’s performance.”

Moving the museum — WSU is starting work on the history displays in the Koch Arena concourse. Called the All-Sports History Museum, the displays were taken down in 2014 when that space in the arena was turned into a recruiting room.

Construction will take around three weeks and will include a Hall of Fame, information on each sport, videos and interactive displays.

Hinson’s take on referees — Two years ago, Southern Illinois coach Barry Hinson strongly disagreed with officiating designed to increase scoring and freedom of movement for offensive players.

His tone hasn’t changed in a season where officials are again asked to enforce rules that limit physical play by defenders. Earlier this week, he said two crews of officials apologized for how they are asked to call games.

“I’m sick of it,” he told reporters earlier this week. “I think the officials are ruining the game. I don’t have any problem saying that. I think they’re absolutely ruining the game of basketball. They’re apologizing to me because of a mandate from above. Apologizing because they don’t know how to call a game. When an official enters the ball game now they are looking to call fouls instead of calling the game.”

In an NCAA comparison of games through Nov. 29, scoring is up from 67.6 points last season to 74.6 this season. Fouls are up to 20.2 a game, an increase from 18.2 last season. Shooting percentage is 44.1 percent, up from 43.4 in 2014-15.

Don’t let Hinson’s outburst detract from what his team is accomplishing. The Salukis, entering Saturday’s game at North Texas, were 7-1, their best start since 2006. A weak schedule — no wins over a team higher than 176 in kenpom’s ranking — certainly helps. For a team picked ninth in the MVC, however, every win is important.

The addition of guard Mike Rodriguez, a transfer from Marshalltown (Iowa) Community College, is a big factor. His play at point guard makes shooting guard Anthony Beane better. Rodriguez ranked No. 26 nationally, before Saturday, with an assist-to-turnover ratio of 4.38. Last season, Jalen Pendleton led SIU with a 1.42 ratio.

Worth noting — WSU volleyball setter Emily Hiebert was named MVC scholar-athlete of the week. She has a .391 GPA in physical education … WSU basketball coach Gregg Marshall will send a team of celebrities to collect donations for the Salvation Army before Wednesday’s game against UNLV at Koch Arena.

This story was originally published December 5, 2015 at 2:15 PM with the headline "WSU notes: NCAA committee has plenty of time to evaluate Shockers when healthy."